Beer: Ratings & Reviews

Reviews by beerguy101:

Dark amber color. Medium sized beige foamy head. Aroma is fruity malt, touch of chocolate and floral hops. A beer to celebrate the 3000 batch out of the Lagunitas brew kettle. A medium to full bodied American Strong Ale/Eisbock?? Malts are fruity and sweet. Hops are grapefruity and floral. WOW. BIG malts, BIG hops and really well balanced. No trace of the 11.3% alcohol either. Very smooth tasting, nearly silky. Nice round soft carbonation. This stuff is really amazing right now. I wonder what it will be like in a year or two? Another amazing beer from Lagunitas. Keep it up guys. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and smooth. Aftertaste is slightly bitter.

This poured to a great dark amber color with a medium head that shrank but still lasted. There's a nice big web of lace at the top of the glass.

The smell is great, with a hops accenting huge malt content. The taste is good, again with a large amount of malt. There's enough hops to spice things up without taking over. The mouthfeel is decent, while the drinkability is just plain dangerous for the alcoholic content.

This beer has a nice look on the pour - rich ruby color and small tight head but not much on the smell to give you a hint of what to expect. This is a tasty well balanced ale with great sweet hop flavors and malty goodness in a very easy to drink package. The alcohol is very well hidden making this beer tough to categorize since it is too thin to be a barley wine. Bev'mo in Albany has plenty.

Appears a dark amber brown with a small ivory head. Nice lacing. Solid collar that never fades.
Smell is of rich vanilla, oak, caramel...reminds me of a well aged barley wine.
Taste-see smells listed above.
Mouthfeel is smooth, creamy, and well rounded with a mild smokey sweetness.
Drinkability is good. This one was wonderful.

22-oz bomber. Pours a dark cola color with a small head that quickly vanishes due to high ABV. Aroma is very bold...licorice, vanilla,currants, floral scents and alcohol all present and accounted for. First taste is equally bold. BIG malty sweetness, all aromas are present in taste as well, plus walnuts and floral, grassy hops. To give a reference point, this tastes a little like Ricola cough drops, but on steroids. Not too much alcohol taste, considering the high ABV and it's definate presence in the smell. Just enough bitterness to add some balance and a suprisingly bright acidity.

Mouthfeel is very easy and smooth, with a low carbonation level and only a medium (suprising, given it's appearance and taste) body. The flavor and aroma really mellow out as it warms, so I would recommend taking your time to savor this one, and giving it a chance to breathe before you delve into it. This is a real treat. I love Lagunitas. This comes highly recommended by yours truly and especially if you are fond of a big malt taste. Enjoy and remember, this is a limited release. You may want to stock up and it would'nt be a bad idea to save a few for aging, either.

Thanks to Ratman for sharing this one at a mini-tasting recently. I vaguely remember having this one five years ago when it was initially released, but beyond that my memory fails me. Nonetheless, this one was pretty enjoyable. Pours a nice dark brown color, with a very small off-white head. Aromas of chewy raisins, dark brown sugar, and in the back a very slight cardboard note. On the palate, I was surprised at the lack of oxidation, and got a little dark fruit, some chocolate and roasted malt. This one has held up pretty well.

Presentation- 22oz bottle with no vintage date, but it was brewed in '05 I believe. Poured into my Maudite tulip.

Appearance- Ruby red with an off brown colored pour. Rather foamy and larger one inch head which levels off and leaves a smaller ring during the rest of consumption. Lacing is light and streaky.

Smell- Has a very nice scent of rich caramel malts, prunes, plums and raisins with only a slight whiff of alcohol fumes.

Taste- Sadly, this has past beyond it's prime I believe. I had my other bottle at a tasting a couple of weeks back and experienced the same plight. The caramel malts are there, as are the dark fruits, but the richness and sweetness has all but evaporated. Leaving a rather bland eisbock in it's wake. Can't even detect the 11.5 percent alcohol as well. I would have guessed about 8% max.

Mouthfeel- Carbonation has gotten higher as the nice sweetness in the mouthfeel is gone as well.

Drinkability- Wish I had tried this last year or maybe even fresh. Everyone raved about it back then. Right now I'm sure it's only a shell of it's former self.

Pours out a clear ruby/amber with a big foamy tan head. Dissapated into a creamy mass. Lots of noticeable carbonation bubbles.

Huge sweet malt aroma. Ripe red fruit, a bit of chocolate and
floral hops. Just a whisper of an alcohol presence.

Sweet roasted, mildly smoky malt flavor upfront. Not much in the middle as it goes into a fresh floral and grassy wet hop flavor. Red fruit, cocoa and brown sugar also make appearances. Finishes dry, chewy and earthy. Warms the belly, yet the alcohol is hidden extremely well.

Excellent job of hiding the alcohol. It seemed a little out of balance. There were some excellent parts that didn't seem to quite come together as a whole. Nonetheless, another fine offering from Lagunitas and congratulations on your 3,000th!

Danced at a friend's wedding with a white napkin with this one on 7/3/2005. 1 pt. 6 fl. oz. bomber poured twice in a shaker glass.

Huge plume of creamy stuff at the start with a fair amount of stick. Kind of a light plum/claret hue to the proceedings; doesnt look like anything is happening inside. Very meaty malt and a touch of a vinous note; slight carnation floral essence is also imparted, as well as a sweet alcohol plaintive song. Malt is the first thing noted on the mouth though a touch of hop bitterness does pull through; plum and other meaty fruit traces present themselves.

Tough to hit the nail on the head, but if I had to try, a little heavy, but also a little soft.

Half an inch of head -- tan, creamy in appearence -- rises on the pour from the bomber I purchased this afternoon at the North Coast Co-op in Eureka, California. Not much retention at all. Some slight streaks of lace grip the walls of my glass. The body is nearly black, but a very dark brown. Mahogany at night. Smell: Immediate kick of alcohol fumes backed up by a deep fruitiness (dark, dark fruits, soaked in that alcohol); the finish brings out some lighter (melon, cotton candy) sweetness. I can tell this is going to be a rich, hearty beast. Taste: warm (warm from the high ABV) caramel upfront, followed by a black pepper twist and a surprising -- or not so surprising, considering this is Lagunitas -- crunch of hop bitterness. This is an eisbock and I didn't expect the hops to be so prominent. I'm not complaining, however! The finish is a melon-rind, mellow sweetness, overcast with that amazing black pepper spiciness and the lingering bass notes of alcohol. A rich, and hearty beer, as I suspected after taking a whiff of this mother. Mouthfeel: dense, even thick, but the carbonation balances this out, gives it some levity. Lovely. Lagunitas never lets me down. I feel blessed to have such easy access to their profuse seasonal offerings.